5 easy tips to styling your family for photos!

Hey there!

I am so glad you are here! As a momma of 3 little boys, I know the challenge in styling a family for a family photo session. I know the sense of overwhelm all too well and that is why I decided to create this blog for you! It is so important to capture the joy and beauty of each season as our families grow and change daily. One thing I know is, after implementing a few easy tips, heading in to your family photo session with me will not be “as” stressful but so much FUN! One thing I want to clearly communicate to you is to have you think about each person in your family and what makes them unique and special in their own way. Find that one thing and incorporate it into their look for our time together. Whether it is a favorite pair of shoes or a pair of socks, let your littles be little and remember them for exactly the way they are! Don’t put unnecessary pressure for your session to be “perfect” because there is no such thing!! Your session is going to be about “YOU” and how beautiful it is right now as it is! I also want to free you in hearing that you don’t have to always buy something new for your session! Find something you already love or ask your friends to borrow something new to you! We put enough pressure on ourselves for the perfect “family cooperation” that we don’t need to add financial stress! That doesn’t also mean though that you can’t find something new too! Just know, it will be beautiful either way!! With that being said, let me join you in giving you a few styling tips that might free you up and help you as you plan your wardrobe for our time together!

Pick a color scheme. Do you remember the days when everyone wore the same color for family photos?! Everyone wore a white shirt and jean pants and it was the style back in the day. Today we want to allow for complimentary colors in building your palette. For instance, pick 2 neutrals (white, grey, tans or navy…you can choose black but for my editing style try and limit dark colors for best results) and pick 2 complimentary colors. Once you have an idea for what color scheme fits you best, pick one outfit to build around.
Pick one or two patterned outfit to build your outfits around. (sidenote: I typically recommend mom choosing her outfit first so that she can feel confident in how beautiful she is.) Try and choose a pattern that will combine several of your colors in the palette you selected. This will help blend your palette with your people 🙂 The secondary pattern needs to be a non-competing pattern. For example; If you choose a floral pattern for your first pattern, the second pattern needs to be a different type of pattern like stripes, polka dots or something less dramatic.
Don’t be afraid to accessorize! Think of different textures and accessories that you can add to your outfits that give the photo depth. Some of my favorites but not limited to are : scarf, suspenders, kimono, dresses and rompers for little girls, vests, and long flowy dresses for mama! Play around here and have fun figuring out what accessory reflects your people!
Ask me for suggestions! I love getting to help guide you in this area! A few suggestions that I typically give are: try and avoid bright and bold orange and reds in your color scheme. The reason for this is because those colors tend to reflect onto your skin tones. If you want even more guidance I love referring my clients to my friend Lindsey with Created Colorful where she offers photo styling for your session. Lindsey goes into so much detail that it would be hard for you to go wrong! You can find her photo styling HERE.
Relax 🙂 It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at the idea of “pulling” it all together. There is no such thing as a “perfect” family session. Regardless of if you had a kiddo fall asleep on the way and is now not very happy or someone spit up on you. We will make it fun and memorable and the smiles and laughter will not only be captured but felt when you look at each image. After all “This is us”.

Here is a few photos from a fun family of 6 that I got to capture. Kaleigh used a neutral color palette to help coordinate them into their home style so they could be easily hung on the walls of their home. She chose khaki, white, green and brown for their color palette. This was the result: